Sometimes life demands a certain clinical decisiveness. In last week’s reading, this need for decisiveness was exacerbated by the heightened tensions that came to the fore in both sibling and marital rivalries. Sarah saw conflict on the horizon with her handmaiden, Hagar (aka, Keturah), vying for power in the family lineage through her son, Ishmael, […] http://bethsholomsf.org/chayai-sarah-genesis-231-2518-3/Continue Reading...

Are there consequences to our actions? Do our relationships reflect the consequences of our choices? The choice made last week by Abraham to nearly sacrifice Isaac has profound consequences upon the matriarch, Sarah. The rabbinic exegesis (Pirkai d’Rabbi Eliezer 32) captures this trauma well: “When Abraham came from Mount Moriah, Samael [Satan] was furious that […] http://bethsholomsf.org/chayai-sarah-genesis-231-2518-2/Continue Reading...